Social Protection and Children

Enrique Delamonica

UNICEF

Mexico, August 2012

Overview and objectives

• Why children and social protection?• Child Sensitive Social Protection• Limits of CCTs• Universal, integrated systems• Progressive realization

Three Facts

• Convention of the Rights of Child• CCTs in most countries• Needs

CRC Article 26

“States Parties shall recognize for every child the right to benefit from social security, including social insurance, and shall take the necessary measures to achieve the full realization of this right in accordance with their national law.”

Coverage of CCTs(% of monetary poor)

Juntos (Peru) Red de Opor-tunidades (Panama)

Mi Familia Progresa

(Guatemala)

Programa Soli-daridad (Dom-

incan Republic)

Chile Solidario (Chile)

Oportunidades (Mexico)

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Region-wide about half of the monetary poor population is covered

Monetary and Child Poverty

16%

37%18%

29%

Only Monetary Poverty Monetary Poverty and Child Poverty

Only Child Poverty Neither Monetary nor Child Poverty

% of Children

Source: CEPAL/UNICEF, 2010

Total Child Poverty: 45%

AIncome poor

BC

Combining different groups of people who could be eligible for social protection

Excluded

Vulnerable TO..

Non-Income poor (rights)

But would this be all? .

What about the…

• Elderly• Unemployed• Widow(er)s• Sick• Orphans • And those who could eventually fall in

these categories?• Universal, integrated systems of protection

Child Sensitive Social Protection

•Social TransfersCash or in kind support•Social Insurance/Access to services

•Social Support & Care Services•Policies, legislation and regulations

Cash transfers and children

• Birth grants • Universal child allowances• Disability benefits• Maternal or parental benefits • Sick leave • Housing allowances• Unemployment benefits • Support children left behind by migrant parents

(e.g. within pensions system for grandparents)

Non cash transfers for children

• Fee waivers for health or education services

• Interventions to prevent adolescents from dropping out of school NINIs

• School feeding programmes• Therapeutic food and other high impact

health/nutrition interventions • Food vouchers, food aid or other in-kind

livelihood supports

Scenarios of child poverty reduction through nutrition interventions

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

El Salvador Guatemala Nicaragua Honduras Panama Rep. Dominicana Costa Rica

Pobreza Infantil Pobreza Infantil: Escenarion #1 Pobreza Infantil: Escenario # 2Child poverty Child poverty if under-nutrition cut in half

Child poverty ifunder-nutrition at 5%

Other social protection policies affecting children

• Social care services (e.g. family and community support)

• Early childhood development programmes• Programmes for children with special needs• Inheritance rights • Anti-discrimination legislation• Breastfeeding and parental leave laws

Maternity and Paternity Leave

Argen

tina

Bolivia

Chile

Colom

bia

Ecuad

or

Urugu

ay

Hondu

ras

Mex

ico

Dom R

ep

Jam

aica

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Maternity Paternity

(# o

f d

ays)

Breastfeeding: 1 to 2 hours for 6 to 12 months

But all of this only applies to formal work!

Some limitations of CCTs

• Cash in exchange for behavioral change• Targeted, not universal• May imply punishing the needy (punitive)• Low efficiency (e.g. high monitoring costs)• May perpetuate gender stereotypes• Unintended consequences (e.g.

discrimination, clientelism)• Ethical issues (e.g. paternalistic/top down)

Methodological issues in assessing conditional cash transfers

• Reduce poverty now or in the future?

• Income or condition? (No really good and systematic evidence that conditionality works)

• Condition or (previous) investment in services?• Even if they “work” in a carefully selected trial

experiment, would they work in a different context?

• Are we sure people did not want to satisfy condition?

Progressive realization in practice

Means testing, targeting and conditionalities: Partial and transitory

0

20

40

60

80

100

period 1 period 2 period 3 period 4 period 5

0-5 '6-12 13-18

Integrated systems

A B C D E

Program 1 ٧ ٧ Not neededProgram 2

Program 3 ٧ ٧Program 4 ٧Program 5

Progressive realization:• Start with C who is completely excluded• Then E for political buy-in?• Or A who is also as needy as C?

Examples of UNICEF and Social Protection

• Integrated ECD respecting indigenous values and traditions (●)• Integrated packages of education, health and WASH at municipal level (●)• Single database of beneficiaries (●)

•Assessment of Social Safety Nets (●)

• Other integrated approaches (●)

Conclusions

• Social protection well beyond CCTs or “economic insurance”

• Broad and integrated view of social protection (shared by ILO, UNDP, others)

• Menu of UNICEF experiences • Crucial piece of a strategy to eliminate child

poverty in one generation

Thank you!